The Sacramento Kings will get a major boost heading into the weekend, as forward Harrison Barnes has traveled to Orlando to join the team after receiving two negative COVID-19 tests, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
Barnes won't be alone in his return as point guard De'Aaron Fox, who suffered a left ankle sprain has recovered from the injury in time for those last few inter-squad scrimmages.
“I was able to get up and down the court and felt great,” De'Aaron Fox said Friday over a Zoom call with reporters.
The Kings are slowly taking shape and they will look to kick this into a new gear after sporting a narrow, 104-98, loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Buddy Hield led all scorers with 19 points in 24 minutes of action as the Kings look to rev up some much-needed intensity before the final eight seeding games left in the regular season.
Fox leads the team in scoring with 20.4 points per game on the season, bringing 6.8 assists per contest to the table. He also set the tone in the steals department with 1.4 thefts per outing. Fox's presence is essential for the Kings, who have been trying to make due without him since he first hurt his ankle early in Training Camp 2.0.
Harrison Barnes has had an up-and-down season, averaging 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. If there was a time to kick it up a notch — it's now.
The North Carolina product averaged 19.2 and 18.9 points per game in years past with the Dallas Mavericks. If he can find his scoring touch once again, it would help the Kings tremendously as they weed themselves out of a logjam and make the way for the ninth spot out West.
The Kings would need to surpass the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers to come within four games of the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies to force a play-in tournament for the last playoff spot.
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